Cage too big?

[SabreRose]

I've always thought when it came too pets, there was no such thing as too big a cage but I've seen a few people on here talk about how some hamsters did better in smaller cages.
I recently (about a week ago) moved my dwarf, Salem, into the Alexander cage because it's no longer in use and I figured he might as well have the biggest cage I own. And for the most part, it's been great. You can fit so many dwarf toys in a cage that size. But I've noticed he's started to climb the bars. Not much but like when I talk to him, he'll come up and start climbing, or I'll be in bed and will hear the sound of him climbing. Again it isn't very much, just a few times in the last few days but I thought bar climbing was a sign of stress? And I'm wondering if it might be the cage being too big?
Or anyone have any ideas what it could be?

[Fluffagrams]

I've actually had a couple of hamsters who have not settled in larger cages so I certainly feel that in some cases, a cage can be too big. In the case of my hamsters, I tended to find that they would avoid coming out of their nests and when they did, they seemed nervy however every hamster is going to react differently.

It could be that he's bar climbing for attention or it could be that he just enjoys climbing... one of my girls likes to climb the bars on her cage just because she likes climbing. However, they can show attention seeking behaviours if they're not happy about some aspect of their environment so it might be worth checking that he is able to use his wheel comfortably but if you've got a smaller cage then you can always try him in that and then move him back later on if he seems happier in the larger space. He'll probably let you know soon enough if this is the case.

[cypher]

Climbing the bars is rarely a sign of stress, most Russian hams (I take it that's what you mean by dwarf?) tend to enjoy a bit of bar climbing, it's usually just part of exploring.
You do have to take great care that they can't fall far or onto anything hard though as they are quite good at climbing up but hopeless at climbing down & will often just let go.
If he seems happy in general, uses the space he has then I would focus on making his cage safe rather than risk stressing him with a cage change, if you don't think you can make the set up safe then it may be worth considering a change.
One way to make things safer is to use things like lava ledges, small bolt on wooden ledges, degu shelves etc to make a series of steps they can climb up & down on or you could try put extra shelves in to reduce the height where he can climb.

[SabreRose]

Thanks for the replies.
He seems to be fine in every other respect of the cage. Exploring and using his wheels etc.
I didn't realise bar climbing wasn't a stress behaviour.
I've piled substrate up high so he has a cushion if he falls and I'll see how he goes.
Thanks for the help.